CompTIA Linux+

CompTIA Linux+ Certification

The Linux+ Certification is provided by CompTIA, which is a non-profit trade association and provides various professional certifications for the IT industry, all over the world. CompTIA also provides membership programs which include informative resources for the businesses and allows them to stay updated and at the forefront of the IT industry.


CompTIA’s certifications including the Server+ certification are recognized by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) which increases their significance in the IT industry.

CompTIA’s Linux+ certification focuses on knowledge of the Linux operating system and its variant operating systems, including details regarding their installation and operation and the basic concepts of free software and open source licenses, associated with these operating systems. Professionals having the Linux+ certification have the skills and knowledge to use the Linux command line, perform installation, configuration and maintenance of Linux workstations as well as assisting users with Linux.

Ever since its release the CompTIA Linux+ certification exam has received some criticism about the huge number of questions related to hardware that were on the exam in its initial versions, the same kind of questions, which were covered on the A+ exam also. However the newest version of the exam has removed this discrepancy. The evolution of the CompTIA Linux+ certification began in July, 2008 and incorporated a Job Task Analysis (JTA), in which subject experts on the operating system evaluated job roles and assignments of IT professionals involved with open source operating systems. This information is then used for the purpose of to updating the exam objectives of Linux+ certifications.

Linux+ Certification Requirements

Candidates attempting the Linux+ certification must have 6 to 12 months of practical experience using the Linux operating system and its administration. The certification consists of two exams the LX0-101 and LX0-102. There are 60 questions on each exam and the duration of the exams is 90 minutes Passing score of 500 is required on a scale of 200-800. Currently the exam is available in English language with the German, Brazilian, Portuguese, Chinese and Spanish languages versions planned to be introduced soon by CompTIA.

CompTIA’s recommendations for Linux+ prerequisites are the CompTIA A+ and CompTIA Network+ certifications along with practical experience. The previous version of the Linux+ certification exam was the exam XK0-002, which is scheduled to be retired at the end of October 2010.

Exam Topics

Exam topics frequently include subject matter related to the installation methods of Linux, configuration of boot loader, RPM management systems, working with Linux directories using the command line and bash shell, security matters, network administration, mounting file systems and configuration files of applications that Linux servers commonly run. Also included are topics about system architecture, GNU and Unix commands, devices under Linux, file systems and their hierarchy standard.

The configuration and usage of the X Window system is also a part of formal exam objectives, but questions regarding this topic rarely appear in the exam. The reason for this that the exam is concentrated more on use and working of the Linux operating system in the server and networks domain as compared to its use as a desktop platform.

CompTIA Linux+ Practice Exams